Author's Purpose:

In our opinion the author's purpose for writing this novel is to show that it is nearly impossible for an individual to survive on their own and that it is through unity that one can overcome the harshest dilemmas. In the Grapes of Wrath the problem is the difficulty of the Joads and other migrants to find a better lifestyle in California because of the struggles they face due to the changing of human society. At the end of the novel the family has gotten smaller but manages to survive and start fresh because they stuck together through the challenges they encountered.


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Chapter 25: This chapter gives the reason for the title of the novel and reinforces his theme of the power of unity. The reason Steinbeck chose Grapes of Wrath as the title was to symbolize the many people who "are growing heavy with anger and growing heavy for vintage." The "Grapes blossoms shed their tiny petals and the hard little beads become green buttons, and the buttons grow heavy," when this happens the bundle of grapes are cut off from the vine and are stomped and they release their juice for the production of wine. If a single grape falls it will rot but if it stays with the bundle it has a better chance of surviving a little longer. Similar to the grapes described on the previous sentence the bundle of hungry people are growing ripe together and are getting ready to release their wrath on the oppressors. This symbolizes the group of people growing in wrath and when they get "oppressed" their power or "juice" will go against the men in power.



grapes-of-wrath.jpg Grapes of wrath image by isablondethng
grapes-of-wrath.jpg Grapes of wrath image by isablondethng